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Good understory tree in zone 9b
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Posted by
ebrady 9b (
My Page) on
Thu, Oct 11, 12 at 15:58
| Our 50+ year old tree finally gave up yesterday and is coming down, so now we are stuck with a problem of finding a new tree (per city requirements). The only area in our yard where a tree would fit is completely shaded by a 150+ year old oak that's taller than the two story houses, so we definitely need an understory tree.
What types would you suggest? It cannot be a tree that grows more than 10' in radius because of the proximity of houses and can't grow taller than 45' without competing with the oak. |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Good understory tree in zone 9b
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| Red Buckeye(Aesculus pavia) |
RE: Good understory tree in zone 9b
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- Posted by bboy USDA 8 Sunset 5 WA (My Page) on
Thu, Oct 11, 12 at 18:15
| What are the city requirements? Do they have a list of accepted kinds of trees? |
RE: Good understory tree in zone 9b
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| Bboy: there are no requirements or preferences other than each yard needs at least one tree in the front. And tall shrubs don't count. The only other requirement is that the homeowners must maintain them to ensure they don't conflict with foot or street traffic. Our neighbors have almost every type of tree that could grow here from towering palms to short Japanese maples. |
RE: Good understory tree in zone 9b
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| Redbud comes to mind. The area does get at least partial sun right? |
RE: Good understory tree in zone 9b
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| Scotjute: about 1/4 of the area sees some direct sun during the day (and only for a couple hours). The rest is filtered. I am including a picture of the old tree and the oak for reference. |
RE: Good understory tree in zone 9b
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- Posted by bboy USDA 8 Sunset 5 WA (My Page) on
Sat, Oct 13, 12 at 16:32
| David and Goliath effect (seriously overlapping spheres of influence). What you need in that spot is a shrub border. If another tree is needed on your lot, put it well away from the oak, where it can accent its own area - without a bigger tree right on top of it. |
RE: Good understory tree in zone 9b
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| If I wanted a hade dweller in zone 9 B I would choose the Umbrella tree. Aralia is what I think it's called. We have them as houseplants here. |
RE: Good understory tree in zone 9b
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| bboy: unfortunately, the city mandates that each front yard has to have a tree (even those with tall shrubs), and the lawn is the only place we have room for one. We can't even put one in the strip of dirt on the other side of the yard because our neighbors on that side planted a secondary tree in their dirt strip, which also turned our garden from full sun to full shade :( |
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